Marauders Map
by celtics534
Summary: Harry pulled out the Marauders Map to find Ron after Ron left the group, but what was Harry feeling during it all? What did he thing when he saw his Ex Girlfriends name? Heavy focus on Harry and Ginny, but also a friendship point of view for Harry and Hermione


**This is set a week after Ron leaves the tent. The idea came to me when I was listening to the so** _Here Without You_ **by 3 Doors Down. The have a line mentioning miles away from this person and it made me think of Harry and how it would feel the first time he looked at the map looking for Ron. It is really a Harry and Hermione Story, but Ginny is very prominent in it.**

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Rain pattered the tent as Harry maintained guard. There was nothing for it. The weather had been miserable since he had left, Harry's best mate. Ron. He had left them, him and Hermione. It had only been days, but it felt like years.

Harry had known it was wrong to argue, but he was just so fed up with Ron's attitude, now it was just him and Hermione. Hermione for her part was taking it just as hard as Harry, maybe even harder if Harry was honest with himself. He knew how Hermione felt about Ron, and he knew how Ron felt about Hermione.

Harry knew he he should have stopped Ron while he left that night, but really he let his anger and resentment get the better of him. Ron had brought everything he feared into words. Everything he hoped was not true was shoved into his face.

The wind howled, shaking the trees off in the distance. Harry shifted uncomfortably. Thinking of Ron was not a good idea. It just made him mad and upset. He had been wondering where Ron had gone. He could be back at the Burrow, maybe he went back to Hogwarts.

The idea of Ron back at Hogwarts upset Harry more than Ron being at the Burrow. Harry would have given anything to be back at Hogwarts. To have a normal year. To have classes, play quidditch, to, here Harry shuffled again, be with Ginny just like those final weeks of last term.

If only there was a way for Harry to know if Ron had gone back to their old school. Then the idea struck him with swiftness, the Marauders Map. Harry quickly brought his hands up to the pouch Hagrid had given him only a few months ago. It felt like a eternity.

Releasing the zipper he reached inside. HIs hand brushed the snitch Dumbledore left him. The words came back to him, _I open at the close_. He pushed it from his mind, he wanted to stay focus on his task. Finding the map he pulled it out.

Grabbing his wand he quickly tapped the map muttering the phrase , so Hermione wouldn't hear him. The map instantly followed his command, showing the many layers of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Knowing where he needed to look at such a late hour, Harry's drifted to the Gryffindor common room.

The common room itself was empty, so he next location was the boys dorm. There he found two of his old classmates. Seamus Finnigan and Neville Longbottom. Their names were unmoving and positioned where their beds were located. There was no sign of the name Ronald Weasley anywhere near the Gryffindor's.

Harry was about to close the map when he noticed the name Weasley. It wasn't Ron, but Ginny. Her name was pacing back and forth in the sixth year girls dorm room.

Harry's eyes fixated on it. He was unable to remove his attention from it. Images of her face flashed before his eyes. Her sleek red hair and her soulful brown eyes. The numerous freckles she had plastered across her nose and face.

It had been, Harry started to count, around one hundred days since he saw her face. It had been even longer since he got to hold her in his arms. Longer since he had been able to draw her gorgeous laugh from her lips.

He was miles from her. Yet her face was all he wanted to see, all he could see in his mind's eye. Here he was one the most dangerous missions of his life and all he could think about was his ex girlfriend.

Hermione let out a small sigh in the tent. Harry knew that she had finally stopped crying. As was a every night occurrence. He briefly looked back into the tent. She was settled in her bunk, laying on her back, her arms folded over her chest. Harry knew that pose only to well, the pose of blocking people. The pose of keeping everything to yourself.

Harry wanted to comfort her, but he had no clue on how to help her. He was one of the worse people to accept his feelings. Just looking back on how he dealt with Sirius' death was a clear indicator that he didn't know how to deal with feelings.

Really he probably would have had a harder time last year if he hadn't have spent most of the summer at the Weasley's. Him, Ron and Ginny playing quidditch every day. Ginny telling him jokes as she shared some of her "secret stash of chocolate". Hiding with Ginny in the Burrow's garden as Ron and Hermione argued.

Harry's eyes turned away from Hermione and focused on Ginny's name again. Ginny had been there all summer for him. She had helped him feel normal again, as normal as the boy who lived could feel.

She was still pacing. Harry knew that when she was planning she paced. It was something he had noticed during the time he spent watching her last year. Whenever she needed to focus or plan she paced. Harry was similar with this way. When he needed to think he moved his feet.

Once while they were dating Harry had a hard time trying to explain what was going through his head. Ginny had asked a simple enough question, but Harry never really had a great way with words. He had stood up and started pacing. Ginny watched him, waiting. She didn't interrupt him as he tried to get through his words. She let him stumble on his explanation. Harry appreciated that. Ron and Hermione always interrupted him, making him lose some thought process, but Ginny she waited.

"Harry?" Hermione's quiet voice drew him out of his thoughts. He quickly turned towards her voice. She was standing right behind him. She was not looking at him, but at the map.

"Is he..?" Her voice broke off. Emotions were flooded through her voice and her eyes. It was clear she couldn't even speak his name, it would cause her to break again.

"No," Harry told her. His voice was hoarse from a lack of use over the last few days. Hermione closed her eyes, but continued to stand right near him. Harry quickly glanced at the map again, at Ginny's name. She had stopped pacing and was still.

Hermione placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure she is alright," Her voice was shaky, but she was trying to comfort him. Harry couldn't take his eyes away from her name. They held him like a magnet. It pulled at him, in a way that made it hard to keep away.

"You know you did the right thing by her," Hermione's voice was quiet and kind. Her hand still rested on his shoulder, "She may not be happy with the situation, but she does know that it had to be done. She knows it was to protect her."

Harry finally tore his eyes from the map. He looked into Hermione's eyes, "Doesn't make it any easier does it?" He asked his voice filled with as much emotion as Hermione's had been.

Hermione shook her head. Dropping to her knees beside him she pulled him into a hug. Harry was never one for touching, something Ginny had pointed out within the first few days of their relationship. She had changed that. Harry had no idea how she did it, but within a few days of that first kiss he wanted to hold her all day.

"Tell me something about her, something that makes you smile," Hermione said. She had a small smile on her face. The first smile he had seen in months.

"Er…," Harry started. He was unsure of what to tell her. There was so much about Ginny that made him smile. Her wit, her confidence, her flying ability, her smile… He could write a book, "Well she told me that you were the one who told her to relax around me."

Hermione's smile widened, "And I was right wasn't I. You got to see the real Ginny."

Harry could feel his own smile start to spread. Those muscles hadn't worked out in so long they felt stiff. "Yeah, you were right Hermione."

"She told me about your walk after the final," Hermione said. She didn't sound as sad anymore, she actually had a teasing tone in her voice.

Harry blushed. He had heard girls talked to one another, but it was odd when the girl being talked to was one of your best friends. "Oh yeah?" Harry's voice wavered slightly, "And what did she tell you?"

Hermione took one hand and patted his cheek twice. It affectionate in a sibling way. "She said you were the perfect gentleman. She told me I raised you right."

Harry laughed. He couldn't contain it. It was his first time laughing since… well he didn't even know anymore. Hermione joined him. It felt like the gloom that had settled over the tent had evaporated slightly.

"Ginny was right, you basically did raise me. Man, I was a lot of trouble for you wasn't I?" Harry asked her. She smiled at him.

"Oh yes you were. How many times were you in that hospital wing?" Harry laughed again.

"I lost count after our fourth year to be honest. Ginny said I deserved a my own special bed in there with a plaque reading, _Harry Potter the boy who keeps getting hurt_."

Hermione laughed with him. It felt good to laugh. It felt good to forget what they were currently dealing with. "Ginny told me she was going to make you a sign after the you cracked your skull last year. If you had been there for more time I bet she would have done it."

Harry couldn't help but nod, remembering his time in the wing. He could still remember how it felt with all those bandages around his head.

Hermione suddenly got a mischievous look in her eyes. "I bet you would have healed much faster if Ginny kissed it and made it better." She looked innocent saying it, but Harry knew better.

He couldn't help but blush, but he smirked right back at her, "I thought about that, but I dont think Madam Pomfrey would have gone for that form of healing."

Hermione threw her head back and laughed. Her shoulder shook as she couldn't contain her humor. Harry laughed with her.

When she finally regained herself, Hermione said, "I asked Ginny the same question and she responded the same way as you." She placed her head on his shoulder. "Harry when did you notice you had feeling for Ginny?"

Harry paused before answering. He knew the answer right away, but he wasn't sure he wanted to tell Hermione.

Hermione for her part seemed to notice his hesitancy. She spoke again, "Was it after you say her and Dean? When Ginny was telling me about it, apologizing for telling Ron about Victor, she told me she was worried about the way you were looking at her. She said you looked angry, but not in a, and I quote her 'brotherly way'."

Harry couldn't speak. He simply nodded his head. Hermione couldn't see his head move, but she felt it. She laughed again, making Harry turn his head to look at her fully. She lifted her head from his shoulder and pulled him into a one arm hug.

"I was right from then on out. I watched you the next few days and let me tell you Harry you were so obvious. When I told Ginny of my suspicions she had laughed and said there was no way, but I could see in her eyes that she had gotten hopeful. Do you know what she told me before Slughorn's party?" Hermione was clearly enjoying herself.

Harry for his part just shook his head. Hermione had known for that long? All those times he thought about asking her for help, but didn't wanna deal with the embarrassment, she had already known.

"She told me she was so glad you were taking Luna, because first of all it made Luna so excited, and second of all it meant you weren't interested in any single girls. I told her it meant you had a thing for a certain redhead, and she flicked her hair and said, 'it was about time'. " She turned to face him fully now. Her eyes filled with happiness.

"Harry you two are so good together."

Harry couldn't help but smile. He knew how he felt during that time, but hearing what Ginny was saying to Hermione felt good, it was like Christmas had come early.

Hermione put her head back on his shoulder, keeping one are wrapped around him. "When this is all over, you go find her and you do what you did in the common room, and that's an order."

Harry laughed and leaned his head against her's, "Thanks Hermione."

Harry still had the Marauders Map open. He looked at Ginny's name again, still unmoving in her dorm. Harry felt the magnetic pull again. Her name stood out against all others. Hermione was right. When this was over he was going to see her again, but until then this was better than nothing. He focused all his feeling towards the one small name among many, wishing that she could know what he was feeling right at that moment.

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 **Thank you reading and I hope you enjoyed it. If you have a ideas or thoughts I would love to hear them. Constructive criticism is always welcome.**

 **Celtics534**


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